Upper SchoolAcademic COunseling

College Acceptances for the Class of 2018

Congratulations to the following members of the Class of 2018 on their college acceptances!

Christiana has been accepted at Ferrum College and Regent University!

England [Yingqi] has been accepted at Rutgers University and Temple University!

Lasley [Yuecen] has been accepted at North Carolina State University and Virginia Tech!

Tessa will be attending The University of Mary Washington--her first choice!

Vanilla [Jiangyao] has been accepted at Rutgers University and SUNY--Binghamton!

Yvette [Weiqian] has been accepted at SUNY--Binghamton, Temple University, and Virginia Commonwealth University!​

US Academic Counseling Program

The process of selecting courses to prepare for life after high school--which can include choosing appropriate schools/programs, completing applications, obtaining the necessary documents, writing the essays, registering for the appropriate standardized tests, and submitting applications--can sometimes make students (and parents!) feel like a ship at sea, lost in a bank of fog without a compass.

The goal of the Academic Counseling Program at Friends School is to provide guidelines that will help our Upper School students chart a course to success—for most students that means admission to a post-secondary program that best meets their needs, interests, and budgets.

Academic Counseling at Friends School actually begins during the summer before students enter the ninth grade. Each rising freshman works with the college counselor or Advisor to determine a course of study that combines his or her interests with the appropriate courses that meet the requirements of either the Standard or Advanced Studies Diploma.

At this point, a diploma tracking worksheet is created for each student; this worksheet is updated each year to reflect the student’s progress and track his/her GPA. The diploma tracking sheet is an essential tool of the Academic Counseling Program, helping to guide a student in making the choices best suited for him/her upon graduation regardless of whether that choice is a 4-year college, a 2-year college, a trade school, the military, or some other path to personal fulfillment and success.

The Academic Counseling Program also oversees the yearly standardized testing options used at Friends School to help 9th - 11th grade students and their parents to identify student strengths and weaknesses. This year we will use PSAT9 in the 9th grade and the PSAT in the 10th grade. Eleventh grade students will also take the PSAT, but ONLY 11th grade students will be eligible to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship [NMSQT]. At some point I hope that we will be able to offer the SAT here on campus on US test day. The program, as described by the College Board, consists of three components:

PSAT 9 and PSATThe PSAT 9 ans PSAT are given to the ninth and tenth grade students respectively. These tests are managed buy the College Board and serve as preliminary indicators of student success on the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT. These standardized tests also serve as good preparation for students who need to strengthen skill areas as they move through high school towards college or careers.

The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test The PSAT-NMSQT is a program cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT®. It also gives students a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. The PSAT/NMSQT measures:

Critical reading skills;

Math problem-solving skills; and,

Writing skills.

Students have developed these skills over many years, both in and out of school. This test doesn't require them to recall specific facts from their classes. The most common reasons for taking the PSAT/NMSQT are to:

Receive feedback on strengths and weaknesses on skills necessary for college study. Students can then focus on their preparation on those areas that could most benefit from additional study or practice;

See how their performance on an admissions test might compare with that of others applying to college;

Enter the competition for scholarships from NMSC; [11th grade students]

Help prepare for the SAT. Students can become familiar with the kinds of questions and the exact directions they will see on the SAT; and,

Receive information from colleges when they check "yes" to Student Search Service.

SAT

The SAT is not only the culminating step in the Pathway, but also the nation’s most widely used college admission test, the first step toward higher education for students of all backgrounds. Globally recognized and rigorously researched to make sure all students have an equal chance to do well, the SAT is accepted by virtually all colleges and universities.

From the time our students join the Upper School, they are increasingly turning to the world outside of our community, and the ultimate goal of the Academic Counseling Program is to help them prepare to leave us. The College Counseling Workshop offered each fall to interested students and families is one of the ways that we work towards that goal.

College Reality Check helps students and their families get beyond the sticker price and consider other important factors that will not only shape their experience at college, but also their post-graduate life.

College Reality Check is a free service of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc. developed with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.